Father to son Class 11 Important Questions Answers for AHSEC 2023

Father to son Class 11 Important Questions Answers for AHSEC 2023: Father to son is the poem from class 11 English NCERT main text-book Hornbill. Father to son is written by poet Elizabeth Jennings. Here you will get Father to son class 11 Important Questions Answers for HS 1st Year 2023.

Father to son HS 1st Year Important Questions Answers AHSEC 2023

Q1. Silence surrounds us. I would have

Him prodigal, returning to

His father’s house, the home he knew,

Rather than see him make and move

His world. I would forgive him too,

Shaping from sorrow a new love. (H.S. 16)

(i) Why does the father say that silence surrounds them ? 1

Ans: Father said that silence surrounds them as because his relationship with his son has almost diminished.

(ii) Does the speaker want his son to belong to a different world ? 1

Ans: No, the speaker does not want his son to belong to a different world.

(iii) What can be shaped out of sorrow ? 1

Ans: Love can be shaped out of sorrow.

(iv) Find a word in the passage that means 'extravagant' ? 1

Ans: Prodigal.

(v) What idea do you form about the relationship between father and son from the quoted lines ? 

Ans: The father does not know anything about his son because the son stays away in his own world and does not care for the father's feeling. So, the father wishes to build up a relationship which existed between them when the son was a little child.

Q2. I do not understand this child

Though we have lived together now

In the same house for years. I know

Nothing of him, so try to build

Up a relationship from how

He was when small. (H.S. 17)

(i) Where do these lines occur ? 1

Ans: These lines occurs in the poem Father to Son.

(ii) Why does the speaker say that he does not know the child ? 1

Ans: They have a communication gap along with the generation gap

(iii) For how long have the father and son lived together ? 1

Ans: The father and the son have lived in the same house for many years. 

(iv) What does the speaker try to build ? 1

Ans: The speaker wants to build up a relationship thinking how his son was when he was small.

Q3. Father and son, we both must live

On the same globe and the same land,

He speaks: I cannot understand

Myself, why anger grows from grief.

We each put out an empty hand,

Longing for something to forgive. (H. S. 18)

(i) Where must father and son live together ? 1

Ans: Both the son and the father must live on the same globe and the same land.

(ii) What is the source of the father's anger ? 1

Ans: The grief of the grieved father turns into anger.

(iii) What does the empty hand signify ? 1

Ans: It signifies the failure of the father and the son to understand each other.

(iv) What do they long for ? 1

Ans: They long for something to forgive.

(v) What idea do you form about the relationship between father and son from the quoted lines ? 

Ans: The father does not know anything about his son because the son stays away in his own world and does not care for the father's feeling. So, the father wishes to build up a relationship which existed between them when the son was a little child.

Father to son Class 11 | HS 1st Year Important Questions Answers AHSEC 2023

Q1. How is the fathers helplessness brought out in the poem Father  to Son ? H.S. 11, 12, 13, 17

Ans: The helplessness of the father is highlighted through the depiction of the emotional struggle that he undergoes. He is aware of the problem and is willing to resolve it, but is unable to do so. He regrets the lack of a strong emotional bond and proper communication with his son who is also physically distanced from him.

Q2. What does the father think of his 'prodigal' son ? H.S. 11

Ans: The father is unhappy and helpless. He wants to maintain a healthy relationship with his son. The father wants that his prodigal son may return to his home and start living under the same roof with him.

Q3. For how long have the father and son staying together in the same house ? H.S. 12 (1 mark)

Ans: The father and the son have lived in the same house for many years. 

Q4. Cite the reasons behind the unhappiness of the father. What is  his problem ? H.S. 12

Or

Why was the father unhappy in the poem 'Father to Son.' H.S. 22

Ans: The father is unhappy with his son as there is no interaction between the two. They don't understand each other and are like strangers. Though they live under the same roof, yet they have nothing common between them. So, the father is deeply troubled.

Q5. What is the father's greatest wish for his son ? H.S. 15

Ans: The father is unhappy and helpless. He wants to maintain a healthy relationship with his son. The father wants that his prodigal son may return to his home and start living under the same roof with him. He doesn’t want that he should create and live in a world of his own.

Q6. Does the poem Father to Son talk of an exclusively personal experience or is it fairly universal ? Give a reasoned reply. H.S. 18

Ans: The poem does talk of an exclusively personal experience. However, we can also call it fairly universal because a conflict like this is quite common in many households. It is also known as generation gap.

Q7. Whom do you hold responsible for the atmosphere of mutual distrust that prevails between the father and the son ? Give a reasoned answer. H.S. 19

Ans: The son is more responsible for the atmosphere of mutual distrust that prevails between the father and the son. The father has tried to develop loving relationship with his son, but the son does not seem to care for it. He has not responded to his father's initiatives.